The British American Tobacco p.l.c. Sustainability Report 2008, including selected sustainability web content at www.bat.com (the Report), has been prepared by the management of British American Tobacco, who are responsible for the collection and presentation of information reported.
Responsibility, in accordance with the management’s instructions, is to carry out the following assurance activities:
1. Provide a ‘limited level’ assurance opinion
on the Report’s content with respect to the
AA1000AS (2008) assurance principles of
Inclusivity, Materiality and Responsiveness.
2. Provide a ‘limited level’ assurance opinion
on the completeness and accuracy of the
performance claims and data presented in
the Report.
3. Provide a ‘reasonable level’ assurance opinion
on the information presented in the Report
on the London stakeholder dialogue sessions.
Responsibility in performing our assurance activities is to the management of British American Tobacco only and in accordance with the terms of reference agreed with them. We do not therefore accept or assume any responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person or organisation. Any reliance any such third party may place on the Report is entirely at its own risk. What we did to form our conclusions
Assurance engagement has been planned and performed in accordance with ISAE 30001 and to meet the requirements of a Type 2 assurance engagement as defined by AA1000AS (2008). Assurance principles of Inclusivity, Materiality and Responsiveness have been used as criteria against which to evaluate the Report.
To form conclusions on the Report, theyundertook the steps outlined below:
1. Interviewed a selection of executives
and senior managers at British American
Tobacco’s headquarters in London
(headquarters) to understand the current
status of social, ethical and environmental
activities, and progress made during the
reporting period.
2. Reviewed the Group’s approach to
stakeholder engagement through
interviews with a selection of employees
at headquarters, regions and Group
companies, and reviewing selected
associated documentation.
3. Conducted a high-level benchmarking
exercise of the material issues and
areas of performance covered in the
sustainability reporting of British
American Tobacco’s peers.
4. Reviewed a selection of external media
reports and selected headquarters
documents relating to social, ethical
and environmental aspects of
performance to test the coverage of
topics within the Report.
5. Reviewed information or explanation
about the Report’s data, statements
and assertions regarding sustainability
performance in 2008.
6. Reviewed and challenged a selection
of the collation and validation data
processes at headquarters. This review
encompassed environment, health and
safety (EHS), Group corporate social
responsibility (CSR) survey, ‘Your Voice’
employee opinion survey, machinery
destroyed, Business Enabler Survey Tool
(BEST) and Social Responsibility in
Tobacco Production (SRTP) data.
7. Reviewed and challenged supporting
evidence from Group companies for
a selection of data points covering EHS
and the Group CSR survey.
8. Reviewed the processes for determining
material issues to be included in the
Report and the application of these in
preparing the Report.
In addition, in order to form our conclusions
on the information regarding stakeholder
dialogue sessions in London, we:
9. Attended four independently facilitated
stakeholder dialogue sessions held in
London during late 2008 and early 2009.
10. Reviewed the independent facilitator’s
minutes of the dialogue to form
conclusions that they provided a fair
representation of the issues raised and
British American Tobacco’s response.
11. Reviewed the sections in the Report
relating to the London-based
stakeholder engagement sessions,
as described on pages 5, 6–7, 22,
32–33 and 42 to form conclusions
on their accuracy and balance.
